Bosnia and Herzegovina: Austrian Rule

1 November 1906. Definitive issue: the scenery of Bosnia and Herzegovina and an effigy of Francis Joseph I. Printed in line engraving, paper grayish, gum white and thin. Stamps with brownish gum exist and are rare. Panes consist of 50 (10 x 5) stamps.

An example of a pane having multiple combinations of perforation.
Multiple perforations applied
within a single pane.

Perforations

Stamps from this issue exist in many combinations of perforations. According to Fleck (1941: 49) it was first decided that the stamps should be perforated in line perforations 12½ and 9¼ but at the very start, the 6½ perforation was also being used. 10½ perforation was used later.

Parallel mixed perforations (parallel sides are the same perforated) are:

  • 6½: 9¼ and the opposite,
  • 6½: 12½ and the opposite,
  • 9¼: 10½ and the opposite,
  • 9¼: 12½ and the opposite,
  • 12½: 10½ and the opposite,

Apart from these many combinations of multiple perforations exist. According to Fleck (1941: 49) there are 142 combinations. Imperforate, double perforated, and partially imperforate stamps also exist, vertically imperforate examples are rare.

COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
1 Double perforation.

1 November 1914. The first war charity issue, stamps overprinted with the year mark 1914 in letterpress in red color. Printed in sheets of 50 (10 x 5).

TYPES AND SUBTYPES OF OVERPRINTS
Types: numeral 4 Subtypes: numeral 1
Narrow 4  Wide 4  Open 4 Long serif on top, short line at the bottom Short serif on top, short line at the bottom Serif on top, long line at bottom
Type I Type II Type III Subtype VII Subtype VIII Subtype IX
Three types are distinguished by numerals “4” in “1914”:

  • narrow 4 appears 42 times in a sheet,
  • wide 4 appears 7 times (1., 17., 22., 26., 27., 34. and 36. stamp) and
  • open 4 appears once, on the 29th stamp in a sheet.
 Subtypes are distinguished by numerals “1”:

  • Type VII: thin number 1 with a bent flag and short horizontal line at the bottom appears 29 times on values 7/5 heller and 42 times on 12/10 stamp,
  • Type VIII: thin number 1 with short serif and a short horizontal line at the bottom appears 4 times on 7/5 heller and once on 12/10 heller stamp.
  • Type IX: thick number 1 with the long horizontal line at the bottom appears 17 times on 7/5 Heller and 7 times on 12/10 Heller stamp.

7 heller on 5 heller, subtypes
Narrow 4
IX-VII VIII-IX VIII-VII VIII-VIII VII-IX VII-VII
Wide 4 Open 4
VII-VIII VII-IX VII-VII VII-VI
12 heller on 10 heller, subtypes
Narrow 4
IX-VIII-VIII VIII-IX-VII VIII-VIII-VII VIII-VII-VII VII-IX-VII VII-VIII-VII
Wide 4
VII-VII-VIII VII-VII-VII VII-VIII-VIII VIII-VIII-VIII VIII-IX-VII VII-VII-VII
Open 4
VII-VII-VIII VII-VII-VII
A. CONSTANT VARIETIES AND TYPES APPEARING ON BOTH VALUES
III Types of letter H in Heller in the overprint: 7 heller on 5 heller Types of letter H in Heller in the overprint: 12 heller on 10 heller Two types of the letter “H” in “Heller”:
The horizontal line in “H” in the middle and left vertical line short, appears on the 35th field.
B. CONSTANT VARIETIES AND TYPES APPEARING ONLY ON ONE OF THE VALUES
7 heller on 5 hellers, dark green, overprint red
IV Letter r in Heller shifted upwards The letter “r” in “Heller” shifted upwards, and appeared on the 16th field.
12 heller on 10 hellers, carmine, overprint red
IV First row of the overprint damaged Damaged first row of the overprint.
V On the first stamp the distance between the rows is larger than on the second stamp. The distance between 1914. and 12 Heller is 2¾ mm instead of 1¼ mm.
UNLISTED VARIETIES
12 heller on 10 hellers, carmine, overprint red
1 The first “1” in “1914” thin. The first 1 in 1914 thin
2 Three types of number “2” in “12 Heller”. Number 2 Number 2 Number 2
3 The first letter l in Heller is thin (should be appearing on the 12th field). The first letter l in Heller thin
4 Broken lower left rectangular on the 38th stamp. Broken lower left rectangular (38th stamp)
5 The upper horizontal line of the first rectangular is missing. Upper horizontal line of the first rectangular missing.
COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
12 heller on 10 hellers, carmine, overprint red
A Double overprint Double overprint - horizontal Double overprint - vertical
B Offset Offset - front. Note: type IV variety on this stamp (damaged first row of the overprint). Offset- back

15 October 1915. The third war charity issue. Stamps with the effigy of Francis Joseph stamps, issued in 1912, overprinted with year mark 1915 in letterpress in red and blue colors. Printed in sheets of 100 (10 x 10).

CONSTANT VARIETIES
7 heller on 5 heller, green, overprint red
I Overprint error: 1915 instead of 7 Heller “1915” instead of “7 Heller”, appears on the 49th field
II On the first stamp rosette is closer to 1915 than on the second stamp Spacing between rosettes and 1915:

  • 1½ mm.,
  • 2½ mm.
12 heller on 10 hellers, carmine, overprint blue
I Overprint error: 7 Heller instead of 12 heller “7 Heller” instead of “12 Heller”, appears on the 16th filed.
II Types of 2 in the overprint Thin and thick numbers “2” in “12 Heller”
UNLISTED VARIETIES
12 heller on 10 hellers, carmine, overprint blue
1 Four types of overprints depending on the widths of the lines in the overprint:

  • first line 16 mm; second line 14 mm,
  • first line 16 mm; second line 16 mm,
  • first line 18 mm; second line 14 mm,
  • first line 18 mm; second line 16 mm.
 Note the differences in the width of the rows
COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
7 heller on 5 heller, green, overprint red
A Horizontally shifted overprint Shifted overprint - horizontal

19 January 1916. The fourth war charity issue. Stamps with the effigy of Francis Joseph stamps, issued in 1912, overprinted with year mark 1916 in letterpress in red and blue colors. Printed in sheets of 100 (10 x 10).

CONSTANT VARIETIES
7 heller on 5 heller, green, overprint red
I Thin and thick numbers 7 in 7 Heller Thin and thick numbers “7” in “7 Heller”.
II Dot after 7 Heller is missing on the first stamp Dot after “7 Heller” missing.
12 heller on 10 heller, carmine, overprint blue
I Thin and thick number 2 in 12 Heller Thin and thick number “2” in “12 Heller”
COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
1 Horizontally shifted overprint Shifted overprint
2 Inverted overprint Inverted overprint

28 June 1917. Commemorative issue upon the third year from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophia in Sarajevo. Designed by Cossmann, printed in letterpress, perforation 12½, 11½ and imperforate.

UNLISTED VARIETIES
15 heller + 2 hellers, claret
A A scar on Archduke’s face. A scar on Archduke's face.
COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
1 Double impression

1 September 1918. Provisional issue. Stamps of 2 hellers from the Commemorative issue and 2 hellers from the first Francis Joseph issue overprinted with red overprint 1918 in letterpress.

Due to the increase of postage fees for postal stationery cards from 8 to 10 heller, there was a need for additional 2 heller stamps.

Stamp Circulation
2 heller, violet 100.000 (?)
2 heller, light blue 300.000
CONSTANT VARIETIES APPEARING ON BOTH VALUES Field number
I Damaged number 8 in the overprint, which makes it look like 3.
(Note: the example on the left has inverted overprint.)		 41
II First numeral 1 in 1918 rotated to the left First numeral 1 in 1918 rotated to the left. 44
SUSPICIOUS AND SPECULATIVE OVERPRINTS APPEARING ON BOTH VALUES
1 Inverted overprints. Inverted overprint on 2 heller stamp of the Commemorative Issue Inverted overprint on 2 heller stamp of the Francis Joseph issue Inverted overprint with overprint error 1913 (damaged number 8) Inverted overprint with rotated number 1 in 1918
2 Double overprints. Double overprint
3 Double head to tail overprints. Double head to tail overprint, one with damaged 8 (1913 instead of 1918)
COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES
A Red smear on the left side (printer’s block). Red smear on the left side (druckspeiss)

 

References

Bibliography

  1. Fleck, Vladimir (1941): Priručnik Maraka Hrvatskih Zemalja, Book 1, Tome 1, Hrvatski Filatelistički Savez, Zagreb
  2. Katalog poštanskih maraka jugoslovenskih zemalja (1991), Jugomarka (Belgrade). YU ISSN 0351-4447

Contributors

    Some of the images on this page were contributed by mag. Boštjan Petauer FRPSL.